A Smile That I Would Like to See Again
by midwheuser
Summary: Life continues after the Christmas concert.
1. Chapter 1

"We bless you and give you thanks in your Spirit, who brings our hearts to life this Christmas Day and forever. Amen."

Tong picked at his cutlery at the sides of his plate as soon as he had finished saying the prayer. His mother gave him a warm smile which went unnoticed while his father had somehow already started attacking the food in front of him. There was a joyous atmosphere in the dining room and the scene was almost unfamiliar to the family's home. Since Tang went missing, Christmas was always more of a solemn affair than a joyous one.

"Ma." Tong spoke, "The food tastes great." he said.

Sunee smiled, "Thank you, Tong.", she said, before picking up her cutlery.

Tong seemed normal to her, she hadn't asked how things had went down between him and Mew but he looked cheerful. Korn, who sat across from Sunee suddenly coughed. The woman and her son instantly stopped moving and looked towards him in concern.

"Korn, are you alright?" Sunee asked. Korn nodded, while reaching for a nearby glass of water. As he finished gulping it down, he spoke up,

"I'm fine." he said.

Sunee was worried about her husband but he was at last attempting to get better by his own will. The woman thought back to June and silently gave her thanks, if it wasn't for her, things wouldn't be like this. June was right, they could manage without her, without Tang, as long as they all continued to care for one another, things would be alright.

"Um." Korn had broken the silence, "I'm supposed to visit the doctor again, tomorrow." he looked towards Sunee.

Sunee nodded, "I know. I'll have to find some time between work to drop you off."

Korn nodded, wanting to change the line of conversation, he turned towards his son,

"Tong, do you have anything planned for the New Year? Are you going out with any friends? I think you're at an age where you can stay out for New Year's Eve." he smiled.

Sunee held her breath, she was very protective of Tong. She would pick up and drop him everywhere and she always had to know where he was going. Some people might call her controlling but she was just being safe. Ever since Tang had disappeared she had to be like this. She remembered the night that Tong didn't come home, that was a harsh reminder of the worst day of her life.

"Not really." answered Tong, "My friends are doing something but I don't know if I want to go."

Sunee bit her lip before speaking, she knew she had to let loose of her hold on him but she also wanted to ask this question for another reason: she wanted to know how things stood between her son and Mew.

"Which friends are these, Tong?" she asked.

Tong put on a bashful smile, "Just a few from school."

Friends from school, she thought. She felt bad that Tong's words reassured her, friends from school would mean that Mew wouldn't be there. Not that she didn't like Mew, she put her son's happiness before her own but if she had to choose for her son, it would be for Mew and her son to remain friends, normal friends. She repeated the word in her head, normal, she shouldn't have used that. Nothing was wrong with Mew, and if Mew was going to be there then that wouldn't be wrong, either. That'd be normal, too, she told herself.

"From school?" Korn asked "What about our old neighbour? He came to... that party we had, Mew, was it?"

Sunee found herself holding her breath once more. Korn was completely oblivious to what was going on, or what might have been going on, between the two boys.

Tong nodded,

"He won't be there. I don't think he'll like my friends anyway."

"When did you last speak to him?" Korn asked.

Tong threw a cautiously glance to his mother that she didn't seem to notice,

"Last night. He performed at the Christmas concert in Siam Square. It was that really nice love song that he did at the party. It was great, the crowd really liked it. "

Sunee felt like she had to say something, if she didn't then Tong might think that she was angry with him,

"I'm not surprised." she said, "He's a very talented boy."

Tong smiled and nodded. He thought that he should probably talk to Mew. He had a million things to ask the boy, what did he do for Christmas? Was he doing anything for New Year's Eve? Was he working on a new song? How was Ying going?

He had taken a liking to Ying, she was a strong girl, being able to accompany Tong to the concert. After all, Mew did love him and not her. Love... Tong mentally sighed, even though he had loved Mew, things were complicated, he wondered how things would feel when they spoke again. Their last conversation had ended on a good note, but he felt anxious when thinking about talking to Mew again. Tong zoned out, his thoughts were racing and he could practically hear his heart pounding.

"Mew..." he spoke aloud.

"What did you say, Tong?" his mother looked towards him, had she heard?

"Um..." Tong looked down toward his plate, it was completely empty, he smiled and looked towards his mother,

"Can I have some more?"

Sunee shot him a half-amused, half-sly look before taking up some of the larger cutlery to serve him.

* * *

I'm completely redoing this story because... well, I just didn't like how the first chapter turned out when I read it over. I kind of wish I still had the date it was published, with it being December and all but I digress. The title of the story is taken from the name of the song that plays when Mew cries at the end of the movie.


	2. Chapter 2

"Mew!"

Mew grudgingly opened his eyes. He could have sworn he heard someone call his name. He lay in his bed for a while and took in the sounds around him. Aside from the early morning traffic some distance away, it was an otherwise quiet morning, or so he thought.

" Mew!" a playful, sing-song voice rang. Ying? Mew sat up in his bed.

"Mew!" the voice called again. It was definitely Ying. Mew could make out the girl's older brother yelling at her in Mandarin from across the street. Although he couldn't understand a word of it, he was sure that her brother was doing him a favor by asking the girl to keep it down. After quickly collecting himself, Mew went downstairs to greet his friend.

"Mew! I've been waiting out here for so long." she smiled. She was unusually cheerful and dressed to suit. It was the 29th of December, the first Saturday since Christmas. It was a little after 10AM, which would make today the fifth day since the Christmas Eve concert. Not that anyone was keeping count. Up until now, the only communication Mew had with Ying since the concert was a series of waves and smiles.

Mew put on a sheepish grin, "Sorry, Ying. I slept in."

Ying pouted, "Well, at least you're not busy. We're going to Siam Square." she declared.

Mew wasn't sure what to say. He hadn't properly spoken to Ying since the night she helped him complete his song. He wasn't in the mood to go out, he hadn't been for quite it a while, but he knew that it wasn't good that they hadn't spoken in so long. He wasn't lying when he said that she was a good friend of his.

"Um, okay. Wait here." Mew smiled and went up to his room to get dressed.

* * *

It wasn't before long that the pair were walking through Siam Square. It was a weekend, so school children were all dressed up and roaming the shopping district happy to be out of school. The two friends were otherwise silent besides awing at some clothes, jewelry and even food as they walked from store to store. Ying noticed that a shirt caught Mew's attention as they walked past a clothing store.

"I should have gotten you something for Christmas." she said.

"You know you don't have to." Mew replied.

"I know, but I wanted to congratulate you for your performance at the concert." she looked at him and smiled, "It was a really good performance."

"Thanks." Mew grinned.

"It could have been an alarm clock." Ying teased.

Mew laughed, "I was tired yesterday." he said.

What he hadn't told Ying was that he was tired the day before that too. Mew didn't know what he was feeling, it was like a strange mix of optimism and lethargy. Unfortunately for the young singer, what he was about to see before him certainly wasn't going to help him.

"Hey." Ying poked him, "Isn't that Tong?" she pointed ahead of them.

Some distance away, walked a young boy. It indeed was Tong, and he wasn't alone. Behind him walked a man and a woman: Tong's mother and father. The three were laughing and chattering as they walked and Mew froze. He remembered Aunt Sunee's words and right now he would be too embarrassed to talk to Tong in front of his mother. Even if he didn't care about feeling embarrassed, what if he got Tong in trouble?

"It is." whispered Mew.

"Mew?" Ying asked, confused at the boy's whispering.

"Over here." he whispered again as he pulled the girl into a store. The two waited till the family walked past.

Ying didn't know what was going on, but Mew had to have been hiding for a reason. She didn't say anything until she assumed it was safe, safe meaning that Tong was nowhere in sight.

"What was that about?" she asked.

"It's complicated." Mew said.

"But, didn't you two..."

Mew sighed and look towards the floor, "I don't want to talk about it."

Ying looked at her friend without saying a word. She felt angry. Didn't she deserve to know? Wasn't she a good friend of Mew's?

"Okay." she spoke with a tone of finality.

* * *

The rest of Mew's time out with Ying was odd. Ying appeared to be extra cheerful but Mew could see her detachment when she thought he wasn't looking. It was all an act. He couldn't tell her what Tong had said, or what Aunt Sunee had said either. How embarrassing would that be? And how much of a harsh reminder would it be for him that things didn't go the way he thought they would have. And although the truth about Mew's preferences would have had to come out at some point, he had broken Ying's heart for someone who couldn't even be with him. Knowing that would do nothing but strengthen the blow to Ying's heart, and possibly result in a rampaging Ying against an innocent Tong. Mostly innocent, at least.

"Bye, Mew! I had fun! We should do that again sometime." Ying smiled and walked into her house. Waving as she left the boy's field of view.

Mew waved and looked up at the sky, it was getting dark and Mew was exhausted. He slowly crept up to his room and collapsed into his bed, not bothering to change out of his clothes.

As he lay in bed, he sighed. He wasn't sure what he was feeling inside, but he'd been feeling like this since he last spoke to Tong. Tired, not wanting to do anything and not wanting to feel anything. Tong wasn't gone, but it sure felt like he was. Mew looked toward the doll Tong had given him and smiled.

"As long as you love you have hope."

Remembering those words always comforted him but the question that was haunting him was whether or not he should continue loving someone who couldn't be his boyfriend. Mew took his phone out of his pocket and looked for Tong's name through his contacts. He opened the messaging menu,

"What are you doing tomorrow?" he typed out.

Mew paused as his thumb hovered over the send button. Was he even allowed to talk to Tong? He wasn't sure how his mother felt about him. _Tong_ had spoken to Mew but that didn't mean it was okay for Mew to speak to Tong. Remembering that, Mew quickly canceled the message and put his phone back into his pocket. Even with a wave of disappointment over him, Mew smiled.

"Tong is probably busy being happy. I shouldn't bothered him." he whispered before drifting off to sleep.

In his dreams, Mew saw a smiling and laughing Tong with his family. They deserved that happiness after all that they had went through.


	3. Chapter 3

Tong's shoes grinded against the concrete as he shimmied from left to right, trying to get at the soccer ball some feet away from him. A player on the opposing team was doing a good job at maneuvering past Tong and his teammates, inching closer and closer towards the goal. Tong signaled one of his teammates with a jerk of the head as they caught each others' eyes. He had a master piece of a plan in mind to steal the ball away from his opponent. Unfortunately, the plan that Tong came up with didn't get a chance to come to fruition as his opponent somehow managed to score a goal with a very risky shot.

Tong groaned and put his hands up to his head in frustration. He'd been playing for about half an hour now and his team was losing miserably.

"Staying for another round, Tong?" one of the players asked.

The boy shook his head, "No, I have to go."

He didn't want to get too sweaty and he was admittedly a little irritated after not being able to play his master move. He figured it was time to leave anyway, it was Sunday morning and he had stopped to play when he spotted some classmates in a park on the way to Kao's house. His friends had wanted to hang out and make plans for New Year's Eve tomorrow but they'd decided to stay at the park for a bit while Tong played. He turned around to spot those same friends on a bench nearby, loitering around like they always did while he played soccer.

Jeng was on his cellphone as usual while Whae spoke to a withdrawn Kao. Kao seemed to be chewing gum, no doubt in an attempt to starve off his cigarette crave. Whae perked up as he noticed Tong heading towards them.

"Hey, hey." he nudged Jeng who shot him an irritated look which quickly became a sinister grin as he noticed Tong. Kao's expression didn't change at all as he spotted the approaching boy.

"Here he comes." whispered Whae.

Tong felt like walking away right then and there. Though the four of them were good friends, they would constantly harass each other and sometimes it would be taken a step too far.

"What is it this time?" he asked.

Jeng laughed and put his phone into his pocket. "Nothing." he said.

"We just want to ask you a question." Kao took his gum out of his mouth, "Is it true that you broke up with Donut?"

Tong froze for a while. He wondered where this would head. If only they asked him what he thought they were going to ask.

"So, is it?" Whae whispered.

Tong sighed. "Yes."

Jeng's eyebrows shot up at his friend's answer. "We've said it before, Tong. Donut's a real find, what is it that you don't like about her?"

"Maybe he found someone better." Whae asked.

Jeng chuckled, "Like that boy from... what school was it again, Whae?"

"St. Nicholas?" he answered.

Tong shook his head. "Not this again." he groaned.

"Come on, Tong." Kao said, "It's just a joke."

Tong didn't find it funny at all though. Mew was a very sensitive topic right now. They might not be friends anymore. It wasn't exactly the _same _situation with Mew but Jeng would always say to let the girl make the first move after breaking up with her. Apparently if she doesn't speak to you after you break up with her then that meant that she didn't want to talk to you again. Mew wasn't a girl and they weren't ever really together but he wondered if the same logic applied. They didn't speak since he told Mew he couldn't be his boyfriend so what if he had cut him off? His heart sank at that thought.

Tong scowled at his friends. "Whatever." he said and then walked off.

* * *

Tong had decided to take a stroll through Siam Square on his way back home. He was angry at his friends and couldn't stop thinking about Mew, he needed some time to cool off and think. The boy didn't exactly have anyone to talk to about his feelings, other than Ying, who was unusually quiet lately.

He thought back to that night while he walked, back to the singer's smile. He of smiled, but was he really happy? That was the biggest question in his mind. If Tong was on the other end, he knew that he might not have been satisfied with his own words that night. What if that was the case?

"This is stupid." he whispered to himself. After an hour of getting nowhere with his worries, he decided to just go home.

Tong loved going home lately, his house was inviting and actually felt like a home again. His mother would even try to come home early from work for his father's attempt at a meal. Things were different, and they were good. The only worry his family had was wondering who would take care of dinner once his father had found a job again. His family sat down for dinner and said grace.

As soon as they finished, his father spoke up "So, Tong." he said, "What are you doing tomorrow?"

Tong felt that it was almost strange how his father was basically pushing him to have plans till he saw his mother stealthily smile at his father; They wanted some time alone.

"Um." Tong wasn't sure what to say. Did he have plans? He figured any plans he might have had with his friends tomorrow was canceled since he walked off on them earlier but at the same time, he didn't want to possibly hinder his parents in repairing their marriage. He ran through scenarios of apologizing to his friends till he realized something, this was the perfect opportunity to see Mew again. He had to get out of the house because his parents wanted some alone time and he decided to visit Mew. That would be his reasoning, if he had to explain himself.

Tong smiled, "I might go over to Mew's." he said.

His mother looked at him, "Is he having a party?" she asked. He figured that she might still be a little antsy about him and Mew spending time together, or being _together_.

"Yes. Our friend Ying might be there too." Though the boy was making this up on the go, he really was hoping that she would be there.

"I see." his mother replied and smiled.

He wondered if she thought him and Mew really were in a relationship. He knew he should clear the air but it was a fairly difficult thing to bring up, especially with his father there. It didn't matter anyway, because right now, Tong was overjoyed. He was finally going to see Mew again.

* * *

_A/N : This chapter is up a little later than I wanted it to be since I realized I messed up the timeline while I was writing it. I'm going by actual dates in 2007 and originally wrote the first part of the story with Tong playing soccer in school (hence the rather wordy explanation about the park and them meeting up to make plans for New Year's Eve) till I realized the last chapter was on a Saturday. I didn't want to replace chapter two with this since I'm going for alternating view points per chapter (at least for now) and putting a date stamp on two chapters when it isn't really that important would be too silly._


	4. Chapter 4

Mew wasn't completely sure how it had happened. He remembered his band mate and friend, Ax, boldly inviting himself into his house and from then, the rest of the August Band might have simply appeared out of thin air. He took in the sight around the house. It was now practically decorated with his band mates. Some were fooling around with his keyboard while some were sitting and were slowly eating away at some of his food. Ax laughed at Mew's expression.

"Come on." he sighed and put one of his hands on Mew's shoulder, "It's New Year's Eve. Relax and have some fun."

Mew grinned, "Alright." he said. He figured that Ax could probably tell that something was wrong, so he might as well try to have some fun with his friends and disprove that thought.

"That's the spirit, but listen... I have to tell you something." Ax took Mew by the arm and dragged him near the entrance to his house, away from the other boys.

Mew eyed his friend suspiciously, "What is it?" he asked.

"Aod wanted to meet with us as soon as possible."

"As soon as possible."

Ax nodded. This would be the first time that they met with their manager since the Christmas concert.

"Do you know why?" Normally this would be great news, but the way Ax was speaking had him worried.

Ax shook his head.

"I don't think he might be dropping us. If he wanted to he'd have just told me over the phone, right?"

"Yeah... but why'd he call you? Did he call anyone else?"

Ax shook his head. "No, but I don't think it's anything bad. Maybe he just lost most of our phone numbers."

"Really?" Mew watched his friend with a skeptical look. He could tell his friend was just trying to cheer him up but he couldn't help but be worried.

"Don't worry." Ax shoved him, "Remember how we thought we'd never get a good manager when we were now starting up? Now look we have a manager and even released a single. If we lose Aod, we'll just find another manager."

"You're right. The audience's reaction at the concert was good too, he wouldn't drop us when people like our music."

"That's true." Ax said.

Mew sure hoped that Aod wasn't thinking of dropping them. First he had messed up by not showing up for an important performance, then June had been fired for being irresponsible, then it was the whole situation with Tong. He didn't think he'd be able to handle another disappointment. That was the label that he had managed to come up with for his feelings: disappointment.

"Hey, Mew, do you know that girl?" Ax looked up towards the neighboring house.

Mew automatically looked up to Ying's window and sure enough, saw her staring at him and his friend.

"Yes." Mew laughed, "She's a friend."

Ax's eyebrows shot up in surprise and he whistled, "Nice."

"I'll be back."

* * *

After signaling to Ying that he was coming up, he entered Ying's home. He greeted the Chinese family, all the while taking note of the vibrant guests who were excitedly speaking Chinese. He wouldn't lie and say that he had never wished that his home was that vibrant. Coming home to a quiet and empty house wasn't exactly one of his favorite things to do. He opened the door to Ying's room to find her still staring out the window.

"Hi, Ying." he greeted.

"Hi, Mew." she stood up, "Your friend's cute."

"He is."

Ying laughed at his response.

"I mean..." Mew wasn't thinking and simply had said that out of courtesy more than anything else, but considering the context of Mew and Ying's friendship, it was a particularly awkward mistake to make.

"It's okay, Mew." she fell silent for a while, "Listen. You know you can tell me anything, right?"

Mew was caught off-guard by the question.

"Yes." he slowly said.

He wasn't sure where this conversation was heading. Mew knew he was "different", he had just never really talked about it with someone. He wondered if Ying wanted to be the one he'd talk to.

"You said we were good friends."

"I know..."

"Friends don't keep secrets, right? Especially if something is bothering them."

Apparently Mew was wrong. He didn't know where this conversation was heading at all.

"Ying... are you okay?" he asked. His voice was soaked with concern. She had been acting strange lately. First her unusual, quiet disposition and now this.

Ying gasped, shocked at his worried tone. Did he think she was being weird?

"Yes... no... I don't know." she pouted.

"What is it?"

She remained quiet before speaking. She stared directly into his eyes.

"I'm supposed to be a good friend of yours but I don't know what's going on with you." she paused again, "What happened between you and Tong? I put aside my feelings for you to help you two get together... and now I have no idea what's going on and you're not telling me."

She spoke calmly, but Mew could sense her frustration. "Don't I deserve at least _that_? Why are you avoiding Tong?" she asked.

Mew felt like an idiot. He hadn't put Ying into perspective at all and now she was feeling hurt all because of him.

"Ying... I... I'm sorry." he didn't know what to say. He juggled through his thoughts, looking for a simple answer to Ying's question that she would understand. He knew that explaining Tong's family situation, the whole thing with June and Tang and finally, and most importantly, the problems that might come with being gay and being in a relationship might bring would simply be too much to explain.

"It's... complicated." he said.

Ying almost laughed at the cliche answer. She shook her head and smiled, "It's okay, Mew."

The boy remained quiet.

"Anyway!" Ying spun on her heel and turned back towards the window, "While you were coming up I noticed someone. You're going to want to return to that party of yours."

"Someone? Who?"

"It's Tong." she said.

Mew thought he had endured enough shocks for the year, but apparently someone wanted there to be a grand finale before the year was over. Time seemed to slow down around the singer and he felt like he was about to collapse in on himself.

"Oh, okay." he squeaked. That was the only appropriate response he could find. "Do you want to come too? You could meet Ax and everyone else."

"I can't." Ying whined, "I'm caged up in here with my family."

Mew smiled. Ying's family drove her crazy, he knew that she'd do anything to get away from them. She couldn't possibly be lying, but that didn't change the fact that he was still scared that he'd have to face Tong alone.

"Okay then. Bye, Ying." He turned around to make his way to the door before Ying stopped him.

"Mew."

"Yes?"

"I know that I don't know what's going on, but don't be so nervous. Good luck... and Happy New Year."

Mew smiled. "Thank you. Happy New Year, Ying."

As soon as Mew came out of Ying's house, he spotted Tong. The boy was leaning against the walls of his house. He was hoping that he'd be inside. At least that way he'll have his friends close by to ease his nerves. But right now, his friends weren't there. Unless you counted them peering out the window as being there. Once again, they were acting like an audience to Tong and his interactions. Mew casually walked up to Tong and gave him a nervous smile. That was all he could give at the moment. He was struck silent with shock. He felt anxious, nervous, scared.

* * *

Subplots! Oh my! This is going to be a pretty long story. I hope everyone who's reading sticks around for the ride. Thanks for the feedback, guys.


	5. Chapter 5

Finally, after an eternal week, Mew was standing in front of Tong. The singer stood looking as normal as one could possibly look but Tong still wasn't sure what to say, what tone to have and whether he was even allowed to be there or not.

"Hey, Mew." he settled on saying. The words sounded weird leaving his mouth. Was it enough? He thought.

"Hey, Tong." the other replied.

Mew answered quickly, quick enough that Tong didn't have proper time to choose his words. He fidgeted for a bit and moved away from the wall he leaned against.

"Um..." he paused, "I see you're having a party." He chuckled.

He thought it was actually a little funny. He felt so silly, he had forgotten that Mew had a life of his own. Mew had friends, things to do and things that he wanted to do. Tong had given no consideration to any of that. He had just turned up assuming that Mew wouldn't be doing anything and wouldn't be so _normal_. Suddenly, he felt bad. He scolded himself. Did he _want_ to see a broken and unresponsive Mew? Then, as if on cue, Mew smiled in front of him.

"I guess." Mew replied, "It's just something that Ax threw together."

The singer looked towards the entrance to his house, he could see his friends attempt to discreetly observe him and Tong.

"I didn't really plan it." he finished.

"Oh." Tong laughed nervously, "Well, I was supposed to go to a party too but..." he paused, "Plans fell through, I think. Then my parents wanted some time alone too, so I thought I'd visit you. I just thought that I haven't seen you in a while."

Tong paused again. The atmosphere was tense, or at least Tong thought it was. He gave a nervous chuckle before resuming, "But that might have been a bad idea."

Mew shook his head, "No, it's okay. You can stay if you want." he smiled.

"Really?" Tong grinned, "Are you sure it's okay?

"Yeah. The others won't mind. They'd probably be happy more than anything else."

Tong looked over to Mew's friends, now shamelessly gazing at the two of them from the house's entrance.

"Alright. I'll stay for a bit." he answered.

* * *

This wasn't the first time that Tong had been to Mew's house and neither was it the first time that he had met his friends. He had no reason to be afraid, although he couldn't exactly recall ever speaking to one of Mew's friends. Luckily, Tong was a fan of the band so he could easily strike up a conversation with the boys. Mew introduced the boys one by one. They were ten of them. Three vocalists: Ong, Mac and Petch. Three on brass: Arm, Nine and Mike. Guitarists: Ax and Tle. Finally, there was Taw on the drums and Wan on the keyboard. Tong paid attention to the boys' faces while they were introduced. With some luck, he might manage to tie at least half of the names called to a face.

One of the band members, Ax, Tong remembered, was noticeably more interested in Tong than the others. He sat next to him on one of the couches in the house and was especially grilling him with questions. The other boys had slowly went back to what they were doing prior to Tong's arrival with the exception of Mew who stood nearby.

"So..." Ax was asking yet another question, "What do you like to do?"

"I like to play football." Tong replied.

Ax looked away from Tong and over to Mew who stood with a grin on his face nearby.

Tong looked from Mew to Ax and back again, "What is it?" he asked.

Ax laughed while Mew answered, "He expected you to play an instrument."

"Oh..." Tong directed his gaze to the floor for a while, noticeably embarrassed. "I don't play anything." he finished.

"Have you ever tried?" Ax asked.

"No." Tong answered.

"Hm..." Mew began, "Do you want to try?" he asked.

"What?"

"Come." Mew signaled for Tong to follow him and he led the boy to a big piano in the living room. Tong had noticed it every time he had visited Mew, it was hard not to but he had never once asked about it. He just knew that it was important to the boy.

Ax carefully watched Mew from afar, he knew that he never let anyone play it.

"Come on." Mew said. The singer sat down on the piano bench and Tong settled down beside him, their elbows knocked together as they sat down.

"Sorry." Mew whispered. He felt a little embarrassed. He knew that his friends at least suspected something between them, even though it might mostly be mindless teasing. Either way, being close to Tong like this had him blushing. He wondered if this was a good idea after all.

"Okay..." he spoke, "Now, put your hands out like this..."

* * *

After Tong's umpteenth failure at recalling any of the things that Mew had taught him, he finally gave up.

"I don't think I'm cut out for this." he laughed.

Mew laughed too. He'd been doing that a lot for the night; he was happy. He looked around the room, his friends were there and were all talking and laughing. He was surprised that they weren't paying any mind to him and Tong. It was really only Ying that was missing. He frowned upon remembering their earlier conversation.

"Mew?" Tong's voice broke him out of his thoughts.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry." he paused for a bit, "Okay... forget about learning for now. What do you want to play?"

Tong smiled, "That song."

"That song?"

"The one you used to play, remember?"

"Oh, that."

Tong placed his hands above the piano's keys. He hovered his hands over the keys, trying to remember where Mew had told him to place his hands before playing. Mew laughed again.

"What?" Tong asked, eyes still on the piano.

"Don't worry about playing. I have an idea but..."

Mew took a deep breath, embarrassed and honestly scared to ask what he was about to.

"Can you give me your hands?" he spilled out.

Tong looked up at Mew, catching his gaze.

"It's okay if you don't want to. I know... y-"

"No..." Tong put his hands out for the boy, "It's perfectly okay."

He wished that he could give Mew more than just his hands. He wanted to just throw his arms around the boy and hold him. He wanted to be close to him, to ask him if he was okay and to tell him that he loved him. He wanted to know Mew's honest feelings. Is all his laughter and smiles to keep up appearances or is he genuinely enjoying his time with him? Not knowing the answer to that question was the worst thing.

Mew took Tong's hands, ignorant to the thoughts going through his head.

"It might not sound too good." Mew said, "It will be slow too, but at least you'll be playing it."

The boys slowly played the first few notes of the song. Tong's face grew a huge smile as the familiar song came to life. Mew looked up from the piano to Tong, noticing the joy on his face. He realized that it wasn't just himself that was happy, Tong was happy too. They couldn't be together, but right now, this moment was so perfect that he could care less about being together with Tong. He didn't have to be his boyfriend to have fun with him. A part of him wished that he could get closer to Tong, but he knew that Tong wouldn't want to be any closer. He already figured that he was pushing his luck with how close together they were. They were sitting together and practically holding hands. Mew started to blush once more. He could feel the hot blood on his face while his heart was on overdrive. His heartbeat was deafeningly loud, pounding in his ear. He tried his best to maintain his composure, determined to get to the end of the song.

Finally, Tong's, or rather Mew's hands awkwardly finished playing the last few notes.

"That was fun." Tong said, "I wish I knew how to play."

Mew perked up at that comment. "I can teach you." he said, "You could come over sometimes and I can help you. I'll take my time so you won't get confused."

"Really?"

"Yes. This really was fun. I wouldn't mind doing it again."

Tong smiled, "Me too." he replied.

"Hey guys." A head popped in between the two boys, Ax's, "It's almost midnight." he said.


End file.
